Abstract:

Since the first discovery of gas hydrate in 2008, gas hydrate survey and research has become a hot spot in Sanlutian of Muli, Qinghai. Within two years, Shenhua Qinghai Energy Development Co. Ltd. invested a project to carry out work on gas hydrate survey and evaluation in Sanlutian, which is the latest deployment and arrangement of gas hydrate survey and research in this area. At present a series of important new advances have been obtained. In this paper, these new advances are summarized: (1) new understanding on study of gas hydrate occurrence features; (2) new understanding on main geological controlling factors on gas hydrate formation and distribution; (3) gas hydrate geological formation pattern is summed up; (4) permafrost associated gas hydrate exploration methods such as geological, geophysical, geochemical and drilling methods are explored, and permafrost associated gas hydrate defining technical means such as pre-defining means by gas-logging while drilling, geological mark-recognition means, wire logging distinction means, indoor analytical identification means are established; (5) gas hydrate resource is estimated and its economical exploitation is preliminarily evaluated, which comprehensively suggests that gas hydrate resource is not economically exploitable in Sanlutian in the present.

Key words: permafrost area, natural gas hydrate, new advance, Sanlutian of Muli, Qinghai